Monday Teleconference To Have Major Impact On NAFI's Future

Tensions between the National Association of Flight Instructors board of directors and "Take Back Our NAFI" organizer Rich Stowell have increased another notch recently with an e-mail sent to NAFI members by Stowell drawing a definitive line in the sand.

As ANN previously reported, the showdown between the NAFI board of directors and the CFI community was precipitated last October by what many perceived as an attempt to oust Sandy and JoAnn Hill, two much-favored members of the NAFI hierarchy, and potentially affect the future of the Master Flight Instructor program -- which some NAFI Board members reportedly felt to be "elitist."

In his recent e-mail, Stowell said, "On December 4th, Tom Poberezny and the NAFI Board blind-sided both TBO and the Hills with an e-mail demanding that Master Instructor Program administration be turned over to NAFI HQ," a move he said would "violate NAFI Board-approved policies and procedures controlling the administration of the Master Instructor Program."

Stowell continued, "Tom's December 4th demand and comparative disregard for the governance issues have resulted in an unfortunate loss of confidence and undermine his credibility as a neutral facilitator between TBO and the Board. It further evidences a continued unwillingness to treat TBO seriously."

Responding to Poberezny's demands, both NAFI Professional Standards Committees issued strong responsive statements, which were approved unanimously, 4-0 by the Board Committee and 9-0 by the Member Committee.

After receiving the committee's statements, Poberezny scheduled a teleconference for Monday, December 15 with the four NAFI Directors serving on the Board Professional Standards Committee: JoAnn Hill, Sandy Hill, Harry Riggs, and Bob Wright.

Irked further by a recent NAFI member survey prepared by the NAFI board without input from the Professional Standards Committees or TBO-NAFI, Stowell (below) declared that the teleconference represents a "fork in the road."

"On December 15th, NAFI will either continue as the exclusive organization of flight instructors, or a brand new member-centric organization of professional flight instructors will supplant it," he said. "No one will honestly be able to say that he or she did not fully understand what was at stake."

A letter drafted by Poberezny in response to Stowell's ultimatum carried a much different tone, explaining that the current TBO-NAFI newsletter "does not accurately portray my actions and goals."

Poberezny wrote, "My purpose here is to talk in terms of facts and state that the actions taken by EAA, under my direction while working with the NAFI Board, are to bring the recommendations I presented to reality and build an even better NAFI.

"I feel that the actions of myself and EAA over the past 13 years have earned that opportunity, and that we should be allowed to let the process conclude over the next few months. To propose an alternative organization to NAFI at this time is divisive and not productive."

Poberezny said he is addressing multiple issues, making progress in what he sees as his number one priority -- redrafting NAFI By-laws -- and the transfer of administrative and operational responsibilities of NAFI programs to staff.

"In conclusion, I do not see a 'fork in the road,' but a continuing dialogue that is so important to success. My role is not as a neutral facilitator between TBO and the NAFI Board, but rather a facilitator working with the NAFI Board on behalf of the NAFI membership, addressing the concerns presented," Poberezny (below) said.

"I will continue to work on solutions that build a stronger NAFI, both from a membership standpoint as well as industry stature. The December 9th TBO newsletter was disappointing, but I remain undaunted, and am confident that we will be successful with our future efforts."

No doubt the events of Monday will be interesting, to say the least. Stay tuned.

FMI: www.tbo-nafi.org, www.nafinet.org